Germany’s RWE ‘could face bankruptcy’ due to green policies

RWE has become a “candidate for bankruptcy” due to Germany’s green energy policies.

That’s according to a report published by German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) which stated the country’s Energiwende (its green policy), has impacted the financial health of the largest utility in the country.

The German Government forced the shutdown of nuclear reactors by 2022 following the incident in Fukushima in 2011. This affected RWE greatly. It also mandated to replace the nuclear generation shortfall with wind and solar projects.

According to FZA’s report, RWE has lost 70% of its market value since then.

In December last year, the company decided to transfer its renewable energy, power-grid and retail businesses to a new company called Innogy. It also decided to sell 10% of its group at the end of the year and it expects to earn around €1.5 billion euros, the newspaper added.

Peter Terium, CEO of RWE dismissed the report saying the group had “solid funding until the end of the decade”.

He added: “We have several billion euros in the till including from the sale of DEA. Our business is fully funded through the end of the decade.”

Talking about the listing of Innogy he went on: “We plan for the fourth quarter. If the markets are not favourable, it is not a big deal. We put the plans back in the drawer and dust them off when the climate has improved.”

What all this speculation means for RWE’s UK subsidiary npower is unclear. ELN has contacted npower for a response.